Great Small Works at Ecorama: "Sandy, Sandy, Sandy"

Great Small Works is a local theater troupe that works in equal parts to delight audiences with drama and puppetry and to provoke them with thoughtful, edgy commentary about current events. At Ecorama, for the 4th and 5th grade, GSW transformed room 323 into a spooky underwater enclave complete with mini enclaves (fishtanks) used for the puppet play. Therein was told the tale of Coral (sea coral), Salty (a 400 year old pirate) and Lucia (a blue heron) struggling to manage life's challenges post hurricane Sandy.

The "rich people" puppets who employed private fire fighters. The one on the left is about to lose his head!

For every class, the fact that one of the puppet's heads came off fascinated the children. Roberto Rossi aka "Coral" explained that a few days before the show, the puppet broke! Ack, what to do?? He decided to work with this new, two part iteration of the puppet and weave a decapitation into the play. So resourceful!

Following the performance, students asked the troupe many excellent questions: How old is Salty? And why is "Salty" his name? How did you create your costumes? How did you create the characters? Is that your real hair? Where were you during the hurricane? What are you doing about climate change? (Wise kids we have). When and where can we see more GSW puppet plays? (Click here to find out more about GSW's where and when-abouts). As much as GSW put out for our kids, our kids in turn put out for them with their knowledge and bold curiosity. 


Thank you, GSW, for your wisdom, ingenuity, humor and hard work!

Meredith Holch as Blue Heron

Roberto Rossi as Coral

And, thank you, Barbara and Johanna for facilitating the event's production in conjunction with Ecorama, Mia for videotaping the whole thing from every angle possible, Justin Weiner for his awesome photography, and all the volunteers and teachers who participated.

The final words of show and overall gist of the event in its entirety? Whether you are dealing with environmental destruction, political action, or making and producing puppet plays, success depends on working together. Viva!

Jenny Romaine and Salty